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Nope, nothing you need to do. Although as others have mentioned, Pre-ordering ususally helps (can't yet, I know), not having been banned in game, in the forums, or otherwise violated the TOS, EULA, Or community guidelines all also help.

In fact, this is exactly what happens...

A list a names is generated based on criteria set for that specific round of testing (usually set by the Dev team, Community Team, and Marketing).

That list is sent to Customer Service and the GM's vet the list and make sure there isn't anyone who is or has been banned, or who has a history of actions taken against their account, on it.

That vetted list is then sent to the Community Team and we go back through and vet that we have no players with long 'histories' on it as well.

The final list is sent back to the group responsible for sending out the final emails and they send out invitations.

Just wanted to point out here that this means on Eldar you are not necessarily handing out invites to people you might want to reach. A whole lot of players on Eldar will be excluded for the bans they got in the infamous Sword Halls exploit. I myself got banned for 2 weeks. At the same time I have played since 2007 and don't dare to type in /played on my 2 main chars, have reported possible exploits, bugs and issues. Also Turbine(/ Codemasters) weren't blameless in what occurred at that time. Having said that, I fully recognize it's Turbine's prerogative to hand out beta keys to whomever they deem worthy.

I can live without an invite to beta ( I enjoy any new expansion and want to be surprised and even though i read developer diaries and such , I dont want a lot of spoilers beforehand). Yet If I ever got one I would be honoured and would try my hardest to give constructive comments and feedback about bugs.

although players who have played more generally get in more too. if you a nice forum user, seem to get some love too at times.

I recently got an email about a game issue from turbine. I had also asked what is the criteria for getting an invite to the beta. They said "if you have applied for the beta" . . . .. blah blah you may get invite etc.

I recently got an email about a game issue from turbine. I had also asked what is the criteria for getting an invite to the beta. They said "if you have applied for the beta" . . . .. blah blah you may get invite etc.

so, how does one apply for the beta?

its an extra opt-in thing you can do on your account page at myaccount.turbine.com (i think thats the right link)

its an extra opt-in thing you can do on your account page at myaccount.turbine.com (i think thats the right link)

I am not sure if that is still an option, my account page offers no choice to select an extra opt-in for Beta participation.

I was in closed beta for Release and was invited to MM beta, F2P came and I got vocal on these forums about how I disagreed with the changes. Very vocal. I have never again gotten a Beta Invite for any Testing Sessions after that. Turbine has a long memory. That is my "guess" why I haven't gotten a beta invite this time, and if there is an opt-in as you say, it appears I never will have the opportunity again because I have no option to opt-in.

Originally Posted by Scruffynerf

Sapience - thankyou for taking the time to answer an interesting question.

--

Everyone else - I'm rather surprised that there is such eagerness to be beta testers... as Sapience indicated, in such tests, it isn't about what you want to see/do/look at first, it is about what Turbine's developers need to be tested.

Eg: Run over this bit of landscape 100 times from slightly different directions, to see if you fall through the landscape. Now do it again on a 62% horse. Now on a 68% horse. Again on a warsteed at each speed level.

Now do all that as a group with 2 others, as a fellowship. Again as a party of 6... yada yada.

Or, run this instance 200 times, but be sure to use #mechanic1 25 times, followed by #mechanic2 25 times, etc. Now do it with a party that has LM pets and Captain Heralds.

Whilst yes, you do get first look at the new content.... chances are that there are bugs on bugs, especially as Turbine have drastically re-done classes in addition to all the new content. It could also be incredibly frustrating to have to deal with all that.

Some of us understand this very well and are prepared to Test as we are directed to by Turbine, yet we are not chosen. I enjoy Beta Testing because it IS Work in a sense, it is an activity where quality, integrity, and commitment matter similar to a profession. To me it doesn't matter that I am not getting monetary compensation, I am getting "quality MMO gaming" compensation by helping Turbine to create a better product through my contributions, a product that all of us will then directly use and benefit from. Both Turbine and Players win. It is also a "One Time Deal".. a special project... once it's done it done. Some of us are proud of our contributions as beta testers in previous testing sessions, something that matters more to us personally than just something to pin on our lapels and brag about. When we don't get an invite we know we are missing out on an unique opportunity to help our MMO and our fellow Players, as well as ourselves, and we are quite disappointed at not being chosen to participate.

Maybe that will somewhat answer your question ScruffyNerf.

At least I can still play LotRO. There have been quite a few things over the years I disagreed with, Yes, but there are many, many more things I agree with and enjoy about this MMO. I have not lost my love for this MMO, no matter how many "fights we have had".

I was in beta for RoR from the first round and while yes, it got really old to have to go through the whole thing repeatedly, I enjoyed being able to have some small part in helping get RoR ready for release. Then I enjoyed going thought the whole thing again with kin members, even though I knew what was happening and why.

Last one i was invited to was ROI. Really enjoyed it, but being a day late getting in every time I thought about submitting a bug it had already been covered. Hence the small feedback = no more invites. just guessing.
round 2 maybe... stress test... anything... BACON.....WATERMelon Ranchers?

I haven't been invited yet. I was hoping 6 years and all the other betas would help me get a special invite. I even thought my 6 years of monthly subscription payments might even help, but no joy in the Shire today.
I got plenty of food and beer though, so it's not a total loss. lol

I've often done beta for several games {non Paid} I've done many beta {paid} Was one of the fun things to get paid to do. When I did beta for Everquest { was my first beta in a game I actually played } the first thing I thought was wow I dunno if I really want to do this as, it really won't be a great surprise to me once the game expansion is released. I'll pretty much know what to expect and that wasn't going to be fun at all. But, that wasn't the case. I was only one beta tester there was so many others. When you contribute your thoughts and give good criticism on how to help change the game for the better many a company will listen. Even if you do not like the product good criticism is based on all things mentioned to help change the way things work. Not everything is written in stone. It's why there is beta. If something just doesn't work or something just doesn't belong voices need to be heard or you end up with something many don't like. Creating a disaster.

I did the beta in many games and I was of course amazed. They often had their little monitor system going and I thought wow what a neat device. Not sure how this game does beta. Many times the forum didn't work in a new game and you spent your time through the bugs until there was a way to post. When I finally started reading other posters comments I thought to myself... woo woo woo. That isn't how I feel, perhaps I should post. When I started posting, and in each reset I could see changes in the game. I knew no matter what, I was going to be amazed with the final product. Perhaps I would be seeing many aspects I've already seen during beta, but the live version was never gonna be what I have seen in beta. I've learned over the years as a beta tester I would be a great impact in how the game's overall mechanics came to be, even if it meant a patch or update later down the road, even if it meant nothing changed at all.

I have to say I've never seen a live product be an exact copy of the beta. I've learned that even though I may have participated in such betas and played a character, I have only witnessed a minimal part of these games. Luckily, there are many players across the globe that participate in these betas. If they didn't choose from all different types of players, there wouldn't be different aspects of the game. So, I'm sure they take all types of players to play even those who have never really participated past * level 10 or so.

Over the last nine years I've done many betas and from my experience there is always a few major criteria they base it on.
A few are your systems { usually stress testing and new games or applications }, experience in any games { if applying for beta}, random people to find a base of logic in the forums { usually mass invites those invites are weeded out to find those to help }, good character { usually these are re-invites from previous beta tests and forum posts }, and of course, if not a new game, sources that have stayed and provided good impact to any beta prior.

I am a player who wants to experience all aspects of the game. I often play every class, every race, and participate in every type of what I call bonus features in the game. : Crafting, instances, {epic} story lines.

This means to me, I'm going to use lotro beta as an example. Even if I did a beta, there's no way once the product is released that I've seen everything. Every beta towards this expansion will take on new life as long as the testers voice what can be changed, and the moderators feel it's a good choice to change a feature. I know the devs listen, they may not respond, but they listen.

I often read the forums. Page after page, post after post, and I watch to see if what I feel has already been expressed. If I feel strongly, I voice what I feel. As many of you can see I don't post much at all. I do read though. Unless I have something to contribute, I probably won't post. If I have knowledge that can be shared, I'll post. This is not the case if I got the chance to be a tester. As a tester I would be required to post. I would be reading, and while I played, I would make notes of certain things that inspired me, caught my eye, or just didn't feel right.

I have seen up above the less you post there might be a higher chance in receiving a key. I don't think that's the case. I think if it matters, it's what your posts bring to the forum, no matter how many you have under your belt.

Good luck to the testers and those who have been invited I can't wait to see how the final expansion ends up, so all of us in our kinship can enjoy it . <3

Though offering keys via Facebook to all and sundry is pretty close to open.

To all and sundry who use Facebook, you mean. I don't, and am not willing to set up a dummy account just for a beta key. I would very much like to participate in the beta, though. The dev diaries have not inspired confidence. To put it mildly.

although players who have played more generally get in more too. if you a nice forum user, seem to get some love too at times.

It isn't 100% random...

i'm sure some people were chosen at random however, for ROR, you needed to purchase the expansion to get on the beta, i was lucky for ROR in that I was chosen without pre-purchasing, after seeing beta content i then pre-purchased ROR.

I don't know if pre-purchasing HD will get you on the beta, I'm waiting until I have the money before pre-purchasing

The thing to remember is If you get on the beta, do not tell people you are on the beta. Even if they lift the NDA! I got pestered by live peeps for ROR's beta information, so if you get on and they lift the NDA, it's best to just stick to it anyway to prevent those nosey hobbits from asking you questions!

Strictly speaking, those are not expansions. They are the final pieces of the overall expansion's yearly content. The initial expansion betas (given some of the history post F2P) are closed. After that, some parts go on to Bullroarer for all who have the Bullroarer client to see.

"No sadder words of tongue or pen are the words: 'Might have been'." -- John Greenleaf Whittier
"Do or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda
On planet Earth, there is a try.
Indeed, in a world and life full of change, the only constant is human nature (A is A, after all :P).
We old vets need to keep in mind those who come after us.